Ghosts

In the end, everyone rejected Jiang Chao's proposal. This was the first time in all the time they had traveled together that Jiang Chao had received unanimous opposition from everyone.

Jiang Chao meant well, but he also knew that some things couldn't be forced and everyone had their own choices. Since that was the case, he could only work harder to cultivate and strive to break through the bottleneck as soon as possible.

In this way, everyone can be protected.

Once the protective instinct is formed, it is difficult to disappear; it will only become stronger.

Since the appearance and disappearance of Lady Bachi, Misty Rain City has returned to peace.

The next day, Zuo Xiaoqian woke up. Although she was still a little weak, she was fine.

The woman didn't mention the matter of dual cultivation at all, as if it had never happened. However, when facing Jiang Chao, her eyes darted away, and she dared not look him in the eye.

"Thank you all for saving my life. I will remember this kindness and repay you handsomely in the future!"

Zuo Xiaoqian solemnly thanked everyone, and Jiang Chao smiled and said:

"You should thank Mr. Su; she saved your life."

Zuo Xiaoqian looked at Su E and bowed deeply.

Su E quickly helped her up and said with a soft laugh:

"Lord Zuo, you are too kind. It is my duty as a doctor to do this."

Zuo Xiaoqian was not one to be pretentious. After thanking them, she explained her intention to leave. The mission had failed, and she had to return as soon as possible to report back.

Not long after Zuo Xiaoqian left, the group rested in the city for a few more days before continuing their journey and leaving Misty Rain City.

Half a month later, they had already reached the heart of the Central Plains and were not far from the capital.

Along the way, the group encountered many displaced disaster victims, as well as bandits and robbers who ran rampant, robbing, burning, killing, and looting.

As a result, the spear in Qin Shaoling's hand was stained with countless amounts of blood.

The female knight-errant of Chu was the same; she was ruthless and merciless towards those who committed heinous crimes.

Jiang Chao rarely made a move, focusing instead on refining the incantation taught by Jin Yu, making rapid progress.

That evening, the group passed through a village. Jiang Chao was the first to notice something unusual: the village was surrounded by an extremely heavy yin energy, and an ominous sign enveloped the entire village.

As soon as the group rode their horses into the village, they saw a crowd of people slowly surrounding them from all directions.

The people were pale-faced and had empty, lifeless eyes, like walking corpses, which sent chills down one's spine.

The female knight-errant nervously reined in her horse, glanced around warily, and whispered:

"These people are acting strangely, everyone be careful!"

In fact, even before she spoke, everyone had already noticed something was amiss.

"This place is infested with extremely powerful evil spirits, young master. We should take a detour."

Jin Yu followed up and said.

Jiang Chao shook his head and said, "It's not like this is the first time we've encountered this. There's nothing to be afraid of. Let's see how things go first."

They have encountered evil spirits several times in the past two weeks.

Since the martial arts tournament at Yunmeng Mountain, strange phenomena have been occurring frequently.

As they passed through a desolate mountain, they encountered a ghostly army passing by.

The group of ghostly soldiers didn't have a strong sense of resentment, as if they had just formed recently, but they were full of murderous intent, seemingly a group of soldiers who had recently died on the battlefield and turned into ghostly spirits.

Jiang Chao and the others did not attack the group of ghost soldiers. Instead, they chose to avoid them and secretly observed them for a while. They discovered that the ghost soldiers had no ill intentions towards living beings. They were just wandering around the desolate mountains unconsciously. They would all dissipate after dawn before leaving.

Of course, most importantly, Jin Yu's words dispelled Jiang Chao and the others' idea of ​​taking action to deliver these ghost soldiers from the dead.

In Jin Yu's words, these ghost soldiers should be the remnants of a righteous army. They are not very malevolent. Within a year, they will regain their self-awareness and form a ghost realm barrier to protect the fortune of this place.

Moreover, after the great changes in the world, there will be more and more of these ghostly realm barriers. This is an inevitable trend.

Their intervention would only disrupt the stability of the local climate, doing more harm than good.

Seeing that Jiang Chao was determined to do so, Jin Yu, who seemed to have sensed something was amiss, sighed softly and did not try to persuade him any further.

Jiang Chao gestured for everyone to step back, then dismounted and walked towards the crowd of people who had surrounded him.

"Fellow villagers, we have come from afar and are passing through this place. We would like to ask for lodging for the night. We hope you can do us a favor."

Jiang Chao bowed respectfully with his hands clasped, his attitude so sincere that it was impossible to refuse.

However, his words received no response. The group of people, who still exuded vitality but looked like walking corpses, stood there expressionless, their eyes fixed on Jiang Chao.

Jiang Chao shrugged and said helplessly, "Don't be like that. I know you all have grievances, but we're not the ones who harmed you. We were just passing by and had no intention of offending you."

After he finished speaking, one of the men, who appeared to be an elder, stepped forward and suddenly spoke in a cold, hard tone:

"Outsiders are not welcome in our village. Please leave as soon as possible."

Although Jiang Chao's attitude was gentle, the aura he exuded, which was completely different from that of ordinary people, still made the villagers, who were controlled by some evil spirit, feel fear and unease.

Jiang Chao looked directly at the old man and smiled:

"Come out and let's talk. These commoners can't stop me. You should be able to sense my strength."

The old man remained silent for a moment. Seeing Jiang Chao's resolute attitude, he sighed softly, "Young master, why are you pressing this matter so hard? This has nothing to do with you. You don't need to get involved."

Jiang Chao shook his head and said, "Young lady, you must have only recently become an evil spirit, right? Don't make another mistake. With this great change in the world, there are quite a few ghosts like you whose resentment after death has not dissipated. If you give up your hatred and focus on cultivation, you may be able to achieve something in the future. If you are stubborn and do not see the truth, you will only sink deeper and deeper and be killed by the righteous people in the martial arts world."

"By then, it will be too late."

The voice that came from the old man's mouth just now was clearly that of a woman, and a young woman at that.

Therefore, it is evident that the entity controlling the villagers in this area must be a female ghost who died unjustly.

This female ghost must be quite powerful, as she has already formed a ghost village in this place.

"Since you are unwilling to leave, then come on."

As he spoke, the old man stepped aside, indicating that they could go in.

Upon arriving at the village, we found that every household had its doors tightly shut, and the village was completely silent.

After walking a short distance into the village, I found a house with its door open, white paper lanterns hanging at the entrance, and a mourning hall set up in the courtyard, as if a funeral was being held.

"Young master, please come in." A light, melodious female voice came from the courtyard.

Jiang Chao and his companions, skilled and daring, were not intimidated by the scene and walked straight in.

When the group arrived at the mourning hall, a woman dressed in plain clothes sat up from the coffin.

The woman had a beautiful face, her long black hair was tied up with a jade hairpin, and she had a gentle temperament. If you ignored the marks on her neck and her pale face, she would definitely be a beauty.

At least, in this village, she is the most beautiful.

"Young master, do you know why I died?" The woman stared intently at Jiang Chao with her dark eyes and spoke softly.